Owens Celebrates Wild Show-Me 100 Win In Race For The Ages

Jimmy Owens broke a long winless streak in major fashion Saturday night as the veteran Tennessee driver won a thrilling edition of the 24th annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 Presented by ProtecttheHarvest.com at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Owens' fourth Show-Me 100 triumph was worth $30,000 and ended a 13-month drought between wins. Scott Bloomquist was second and local favorite Jesse Stovall was third in a race that had a near-capacity crowd on its feet, roaring approval.

"I'm really happy for my crew and my sponsors," a jubilant Owens said in victory lane, a 45-race winless stretch over. "I just want to thank everybody that's a part of it. Thank God we had a great night and everybody had a safe night. There's lots of stuff tore up.

"The high side was treacherous, but that's where you had to be. Me and Barry (car owner Barry Wright) had been talking, feel like we're just a centimeter from where we need to be. It was just our night."

The race was nothing short of sensational, with drama and three-wide duels for the lead plus deep runs from those who started at the rear of the field.

Bloomquist slid past Owens and into the lead coming out of turn four on lap 91. But the five-time Show-Me 100 winner hit a bump in turn one and the left tire came flying off his car, bringing out a caution.

A lap earlier, Pierce - who started 29th after winning the last-chance Midwest Sheet Metal Challenge - had briefly taken the lead from Owens as those two and Bloomquist put on a thrilling duel for the lead with the crowd roaring.

During the caution for Bloomquist's misfortune, Pierce had to pit for a flat right rear tire. That left Owens in the lead with Stovall - himself flying into contention after starting 30th - in second and defending champ Jonathan Davenport third.

Because the leaders had lapped all the way up to fifth place, Bloomquist and Pierce were able to fix the flats and rejoin the lead lap cars, in fifth and sixth places, respectively.

Owens assumed command after the restart with Stovall holding off Davenport for second. But the race went to yellow for the 11th time on lap 98 when Pierce had another flat.

That set the stage for a two-lap shootout. Owens took the drama away with a solid restart and he cruised to the checkers as fireworks erupted on the infield.

"I thought if I could get a good start with Owens, maybe I could run down in there and slide him," Stovall said. "But my car didn't fire off very well at all. I bobbled and Scott got back by me. But I never would have dreamed you could have come from the back of this field ... and come to third."

Bloomquist finished runner-up in the Show-Me 100 for the second straight year. He has not won the race since it moved to Lucas Oil Speedway in 2010.

"It was just unfortunate that the wheel had to break," Bloomquist said. "This race has eluded us here for way too many years. We've been right there in the hunt. We just keep coming back. We know we're going to get it."

Davenport wound up fourth with Lebanon's Tony Jackson Jr. fifth and Pierce sixth. No other cars were on the lead lap.

Davenport roared away to the lead as the green flag flew and was already lapping cars when the race's first caution came on lap nine when Chris Simpson came to a stop on the track.

Davenport held a narrow lead on a fast-closing Bloomquist and Jared Landers when the race's sixth caution waved on lap 44. By that point, Jackson Jr. had roared from 15th to fifth and putting pressure on fourth-place Owens.

Landers grabbed the lead with turn-four slide job on Davenport on lap 45. Four laps later, the race was halted by the eighth caution, as Jake O'Neil and Garrett Alberson had a hard crash in turn one, but walk away without injury.

The other big mover by the mid-point was Pierce, advancing from 29th to sixth after getting into the field in the last-chance Midwest Sheet Metal Challenge.

Landers nearly spun out while exiting turn two on lap 53 and Bloomquist slipped past him for the lead. Bloomquist opened up a half-straightaway's lead when the caution came out on lap 60 with Landers, winner on Friday's Tribute to Don and Billie Gibson, pulling into the pits with a broken radiator to end his night.

Two of the four southwest Missouri drivers in the field were involved in an accident on a lap-nine restart. Springfield's Terry Phillips and Crane's Will Vaught tangled, along with Earl Pearson Jr., in turn four. That brought out the race's second caution and ended the night for Phillips, the 1999 Show-Me 100 winner.

Pierce held off Jack Sullivan on a final-lap restart after a caution to win the Midwest Sheet Metal Challenge, for the top 24 non-qualifiers for the Show-Me 100. The 19-year-old from Oakwood, Ill., then traded the $2,500 winner's check for a starting spot on the tail of the feature field - and nearly pulled off an improbable last-to-first dash.

Striegel does it again: Mike Striegel of Wheatland captured the Pitts Homes USRA Modified feature, presented by RacinDirt.com, making it two feature wins in two nights. This one earned the veteran who lives near the speedway $1,200.

"The track was similar to what we had last night," Striegel said. "I made a small change and it all worked out."

Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Mp. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With it's entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks.

Click www.LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984.